Rijkswaterstaat orders hydrographic survey USV for Dutch waterways

Rijkswaterstaat has entered into a four-year partnership with Demcon Unmanned Systems for the delivery of an unmanned surface vessel (USV) with autonomous navigation functionality.

The unit is less than two metres long and suitable for inland waters. It was developed in the Netherlands and is being manufactured in serial production.

Rijkswaterstaat said it intends to use the USV to perform hydrographic measurement tasks. It is scheduled to be delivered later this year, after which the process integration, training and maintenance period will start.

The fully electric USV features a dynamic positioning system with a shaft- and rudderless drive, a recyclable HDPE hull, and advanced navigation and security systems.

The streamlined design should ensure uninterrupted navigation in various complex inland waterways, such as those with dense vegetation.

“Among other things, this new USV will be equipped with an acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) to measure water currents and discharge in shallow and/or difficult-to-access waterways," said Jan-Willem Mol from Rijkswaterstaat’s mobile measurements department.

"Examples include measuring water discharge in a flooded floodplain during high water and measuring currents in groin fields along a river.”

A modular design with interchangeable moonpool allows this type of USV to be fitted with various sensors. There is room for multibeam echosounders (MBES), hull-mounted 3D side-scan sonars and sub-bottom profilers, as well as water quality sampling and monitoring sensors.